Safety razor blade sharpener



Nqv. 7, 1950 A. MALEWSKI SAFETY RAZOR BLADE SHARPENER Filed April 21,1947 INVENTOR. Hdam fl alews If i Patented Nov. 7, 1950 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE SAFETY RAZOR BLADE SHARPENER Adam Malewski, Philadelphia,Pa.

v Application April 21, 1947, Serial No. 742,860

4 Claims. 1

My invention relates to a small, handy and very compact apparatus forstropping and honing a double edged razor blade, simultaneously at bothedges.

Instead Of mounting the blade to swing or rock for alternately cuttingone and then the other edge of the blade, as is now customary, I providea fixed seat for the blade on which it is firmly clamping down duringthe sharpening operation. 7

Another feature of the invention is the provision of revolvingsharpening rolls, with helical or twisted cutting ridges, causing thesharpening to advance gradually, at single points, from one end to theother of each blade edge, as the rolls turn away therefrom, instead ofcutting the entire length, of the edge at the one time. By my method, amore effective and thorough sharpening of the edges is obtained,resulting in better, smoother and cleaner edges on the blades. In thismanner the full pressure is applied only against one point of the edgeat the time, instead of, as formerly, the pressure is divided along thefull length of the edge, and as a consequence is much less effective.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparentfrom the subjoined description with the aid of the attached drawingwherein like numerals denote the same details.

One embodiment of the invention is shown on the drawing and Figure 1 isa vertical section of the razor blade sharpener taken along a plane IIof Figure 2 with a razor blade in position and the gear caps closedready for operation;

Figure 2 is a side elevation and partial section seen from the rightside of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a left end view as seen from line 33 of Figure 2 with thegear caps thrown open;

Figure 4 is a vertical section taken on a plane along line 44 of Figure2 and in larger scale;

Figure 5 is a gear train diagram placed, at the left end of Figure 2;and

Figure 6 is a gear train diagram placed at the right end of Figure 2.

Reference numeral I represents a metal casing with a flat bottom II andupstanding side walls I2, 12a of which the right hand wall I2 is higherthan the left hand wall I2a in order to provide a bearing for the stubshaft I4 of the crank handle I3, located in the vertical center of theright wall and provided with the main gear a with teeth I secured on theshaft I4 inside the upright wall I2.

This main gear a has two functions, the principal one being, upon theturning of the handle clockwise, as arrow X, to rotate the other wheelsin the train, and the second function being to act as a ratchet wheelwith its teeth cooperating with a pawl spring ll to prevent reverseturning of the gear train.

This spring pawl H has one end secured, as at IS, in the bottom II,Figure 4, while the free pawl end engages the teeth I6 of the main geara and is supported by a tongue I9 cut out and bent inwardly from thehigh side wall I2. The handle l3 can thus be turned clockwise, that isto the left in Figure 4, when the pawl end I I will slip by the teeth I6of the main gear a, but hold them firmly if the motion is reversed.

Below the stubshaft I4 and symmetrically spaced on each side of itsvertical center line, is

' shown a pair of short studs or pivot pins 20, 2|

in the right hand or high side wall I2, and similarly in the left handor low side wall I2a of the casing I I, a corresponding pair of suchpins 28a, 2| a are shown in axial alinement with the first pair 20, 2|.These four pins serve as trunnions on which a pair of hones or lowergrinding rolls 22, 23 are mounted to revolve. On the same pins are alsomounted to oscillate a pair of shell shaped caps 24, 25 made of thinplate, each with flat end walls and semi-cylindrical outer portions, inthe center of which are secured pivot pins 25, 26a and 21, 21arespectively in the end walls between which upper hones or grindingrolls 28, 29 are mounted to revolve.

Two trains of gears are used to operate this razor blade sharpener,namely a right hand train Figure 5, consisting of the main gear a andpinions 1), and d in mesh therewith near the right hand or high wall I2and a left hand train Figure 6, consisting of pinions c, bl, (1!, and e.Said pinions and main gear are preferably all of one size and producedfrom sheet metal or other material.

Of these pinions b and M are carried between trunnions 2| and Ma to runfreely together with the bone or roll 23 to which they are keyed bymeans of a small pin or screw 30, while the hone or roll 22 with pinione, at its left hand end only, is similarly mounted on trunnions 20, 20a,within the cap 24.

The upper hone or roll 28, is similarly mounted to rotate with pinions dand (1!, within the cap 24, between trunnions 26 and 26a; and lastly thehone or roll 29 is mounted in the same manner to rotate with pinion c atone end only between trunnions 21, 27a within the cap 25. All four honesor rolls are keyed fast to their adjacent pinions by a pin or screw 30.

In Figures 5 and 6 are shown diagrammatically, the right hand end andthe left hand end gear trains for operating the razor sharpener from thecrank handle I3. Figure 5 is the right hand end train as viewed from theinner side of the adjacent wall I2, with the main gear a fastened on thecrank shaft I4 together with the finished edge is the result.

crank handle [3. The main gear a. is in mesh with the lower pinion b andwith the upper pinion d on the same or right hand side of the casing andthe main gear a revolving clockwise, consequently the pinions b and (1must run counterclockwise. In the left hand side gear train, Figure 6pinion d, actuated from the main gear 11 thru pinion d at the right end,revolves counterclockwise. Since upper pinion all is in mesh with thelower pinion e, the latter must run clockwise. Similarly the upperpinion must run clockwise also, being in mesh with lower pinion bl whichis actuated from the main gear 0. thru a pinion b on the opposite end.Arrows on the several gears denote their direction of turning.

.In the middleof the casing I0, is erected a table 35 secured on thebottom I! as by rivets,

the top surface of which coincides with a tangential plane between thecontacting pitch circles of pinions b, c, d and c. On said top surfaceare provided three small knobs or warts 3la intended for engaging theusual apertures provided in the razor blade 32 to keep it from slidingin any direction during the sharpening process.

The hones or grinding rolls 22, 23, 28 and 29 are all made of some solidor pliable material, rubber for instance, either solid or mixed withsome abrasive or coated with the same. These .rolls are not cylindricalas heretofore customary,

but are flattened along the surface in such a manner as to providetwisted or helical ridges 35 along the surface, from end to end thereof.In this manner the edge of a blade only contacts at one point at a timewith the hone or roll, whereby all the pressure against said edgebecomes applied at that point instead of along the entire length of theedge, as occurs with cylindrical rolls. In this manner, a much moreeffective grinding or honing is obtained. Several sets of rolls withdifferent kinds of abrasive may be supplied for exchange in the casing.

The caps 24, 25, pivoted on trunnions 20, 2|

to swing outwardly thereon for the purpose of opening the casing anddepositing a blade upon the upper surface of table 3|, are provided eachwith a downwardly extending straight edge 38,

the purpose of which is to press down onthe blade 32 to hold it firmlyon the upper surface of table 31 during the grinding operation after thetwo caps 24, 25 have been closed and the gear trains are in mesh..

The following advantages of this razor sharpener may be mentioned:

It is small in size and can comfortably be carried in the vest pocket;has simple construction offew parts and accordingly can be manufacturedat very low costs. A better and moreevenly The blade is held stationaryduring operation instead of being rocked as now is customary.

It is to be understood that the invention as (herein disclosedmay bevaried from the details .lower portion of said casing, two covering capspivotally mounted between said side walls, a

sharpening roller carried by each cap for coaction with one of the firstnamed rollers when the caps are in closed positions, a table fixedlymounted horizontally above the first named rollers to support a blade tobe sharpened, projections spaced along the longitudinal center of theupper side of said table for the engagement therewith of the usualopenings provided in said blade to center and align the same relativelyto said sharpening rollers, the inner sides of said caps engaging theupper surface of said blade at opposite sides of said projections toretain the blade in place during the sharpening operation, and means forimparting rotary motion to said sharpening rollers. 2. A razor bladesharpener as described in claim 1, wherein said means comprises a maingear revolvably mounted on one of said side walls and, a gear pinioncarried .by the adjacent end of a roll of each pair and meshing with themain gear,

and-meshing gears carried by the other ends of the rolls of each pair.

3. A razor blade sharpener comprising a casing unit having a bottom andtwo spaced side walls, a pair of honing rolls rotatably supported inspaced side by side relation between said walls, a gear pinion carriedat one end of each roll adjacent to one wall, a pair of long capsdisposed in side by side relation between said walls, means supportingeach cap at its ends for turning o the axis of a roll whereby the capsare turnable inwardly to covering position each over a roll, a honingroll carried within and lengthwise of each cap for rotation on'an axisparallel to the axes of the first rolls, each cap carried roll beingpositioned above and in cooperative relation with one of the first rollswhen the caps are in said covering position, a gear pinion upon each endof one cap covered roll adjacent to the said one wall, a gear pinionupon one end only of the other cap covered roll adjacent to the saidother wall, the pinions of the lower rolls' adjacent to the said onewall being in mesh with the adjacent pinions of the cap carried rolls, adriving gear rotatably supported on the said other wall between andconnecting the two adjacent pinions when the caps are in the saidcovering position, means for turning said gear, and means mounted onsaid casing unit bottom for supporting a double ing position,

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 998,442 Williams July 18, 19111,929,463 Wolcott Oct. 10, 1933 1,991,257 Perry Feb. 12, 1935 FOREIGNPATENTS Number a Country Date 177,755 Great Britain I May 19, 1921533,207 Germany Sept. 10, 1931

